66: Chapter 66 Honesty is still the best

Vaughn the Dwarf walked down with a dejected expression.

Behind him were over a dozen surviving players, their faces covered in grime but filled with excitement.

They dragged simple stretchers of various sizes, piled high with the mangled corpses of their companions.

"Quick, quick, quick! Move all these body parts to the basement!"

"This run was a massive profit! I managed to loot a gold tooth from an Orc Boss!"

As the players moved the corpses, they loudly discussed the distribution of the loot.

Not only was there no trace of grief on their faces, but they looked like a group of old farmers who had just had a bountiful harvest.

Watching this scene, the guilt in Vaughn's heart felt like a torn wound, becoming even harder to heal.

"They are using forced smiles to hide the immense sorrow in their hearts," Vaughn sighed silently.

The strength and endurance of these ancient humans made even this Kin, who prided himself on being well-traveled, feel inferior.

Lin Li, wearing his red power armor, strode forward.

He first looked back and glared at the noisy group of players, then sent a global mute warning through the faction channel.

The players instantly quieted down and obediently dragged the corpses toward the elevator.

Subsequently, Lin Li put on a solemn and resolute expression, walked up to Vaughn, and reached out to pat the dwarf's thick shoulder.

"Brother Vaughn, you've worked hard. It's good to have you back safe."

"Leader Dawn, I..."

Vaughn's voice was hoarse as he lowered his head deeply.

"I let you down. Over a hundred vibrant lives, because of my negligence and the ship's malfunction, are left forever on that wasteland."

Lin Li sighed, his gaze looking deep into the distance.

"Death comes to all men."

Lin Li's voice was low.

"Some deaths are as heavy as Mount Tai, while others are as light as a feather. They died to fulfill a contract, and fought to protect an ally. Before a sacred contract, their sacrifice is heavier than Mount Tai and more dazzling than the stars."

Vaughn was stunned.

He didn't know what Mount Tai was, but he could fully understand the staggering weight contained in this ancient proverb.

To value the spirit of the contract and the lives of allies more than a magnificent mountain range!

What noble sentiment!

What a great leader!

Vaughn's eyes turned completely red, and his sense of guilt instantly doubled.

Lin Li remained expressionless, but inside he was overjoyed:

"This honest guy is so easy to fool. Just a couple of ancient Earth quotes and I've completely stunned him."

Vaughn took a step back and gave Lin Li an extremely solemn and deep bow.

"Lord Dawn, the Thurian League will remember this day forever. Now, please allow me to fulfill the final payment of the contract."

Vaughn turned around and had the ship's mechanical arm unload a square, heavy metal box.

"This is the Micro [High-Energy Hydrogen Battery Packaging Machine] we agreed upon; the equipment is in good condition."

Next, Vaughn opened his waist pouch and took out a heavy money bag.

"This is the final payment for the employment of one hundred ordinary laborers and ten armed guards, totaling 160 League Credits. Furthermore..."

Vaughn gritted his teeth and pulled out an even larger money bag.

"Here are 380 League Credits as compensation for those hundred or so fallen warriors."

Lin Li silently accepted the money bags without saying a word.

This amount of money was definitely a fortune in the wasteland.

But Vaughn felt it wasn't enough.

He unbuckled the holster at his waist and handed it over along with an exquisitely crafted plasma pistol that emitted a faint blue glow.

Then, he took out a military personal terminal resembling a tablet, as well as five hundred glittering League Gold Coins.

"The other supplies on the ship belong to League property, and I have no right to decide on them personally."

Vaughn's gaze was sincere.

"But this plasma pistol, these five hundred gold coins, and this terminal are all my personal belongings."

"Please accept them. All of this serves as additional compensation for the fallen warriors. I hope this makes you feel a bit better."

Looking at the plasma pistol being handed over, Lin Li's heart skipped a beat.

This was high-end gear that even Space Marines would covet!

"Since it's Brother Vaughn's wish, I will accept it on behalf of my fallen brothers." Lin Li accepted it without any hesitation.

Vaughn took a deep breath, his expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"Finally, Lord Dawn. Once I return to the League space station, I will immediately submit an application to the clan high command. The Fire Seed Shelter will become a premium client on the Leagues of Votann's trade whitelist."

"In the future, as long as you can provide enough resources, League merchant ships will visit here regularly to provide you with the most advanced weapons and technical support."

After explaining everything, Vaughn pointed to the personal terminal.

"Inside that terminal is a heat source distribution map of this planet that I scanned during my crash landing. I hope it helps you survive better in this wasteland."

"May the guidance of the Ancestors be with you."

Vaughn saluted by touching his chest again and turned to board the ship.

Accompanied by a massive plasma exhaust trail, the scarred ship soared into the sky and soon disappeared into the clouds.

Lin Li stood in place, watching the ship leave.

Several players who were watching the commotion nearby immediately gathered around.

"Boss, what good stuff did that dwarf give? Is that gun the legendary plasma pistol? Will it overheat and explode?"

"Go, go, go. Take the corpses to the recycling station. Don't just loiter around here."

Lin Li waved his hand, dismissing the group of curious players.

Carrying the terminal Vaughn had left behind, he walked back to his office on the third basement level alone.

He opened the terminal; there was indeed a League internal store interface, but it couldn't connect because there was no signal.

Lin Li clicked on the folder labeled 'Environmental Scan'.

A clear heat source map of the planet's surface was instantly projected into the air.

The map was densely dotted with many red points, representing biological settlements or high-energy reactions.

Lin Li examined it carefully.

The two largest heat sources were very conspicuous.

To the east, near the sea, was an incredibly large, bright purple cluster of dense heat sources.

This was undoubtedly the human center ruling this planet—Coastal City.

And to the north was the Junk Mountain Wasteland.

Although the heat sources there weren't as dense as Coastal City's, the coverage area was ridiculously large, like a red ocean.

This was undoubtedly that massive Ork tribe, numbering over a hundred thousand.

Lin Li quickly found the location of his own Shelter on the map.

Compared to those two behemoths, the Shelter's heat source was as weak as a firefly that could go out at any moment.

"Huh?"

Lin Li suddenly discovered a medium-sized heat source quite a distance to the south of the Shelter.

Around it were scattered many small, isolated red dots.

And to the west of the Shelter, following the line of the Spine Mountains, there were also several intermittent heat source distributions.

"To the south and west, there should be quite a few other human settlements, or perhaps nests of large mutant beasts."

Lin Li rubbed his chin, thinking to himself.

"It seems I need to quickly issue some exploration missions to let the players clear the fog of war to the west and south."

However, looking at the large red dot representing Coastal City to the east, Lin Li's brow gradually furrowed.

"Something's not right."

Lin Li leaned back in his chair.

"Logically, I've taken over the Mountain Tribe's mines for several days now. That greedy Planetary Governor should have sent tax collectors with troops to bleed us dry long ago. Why haven't I seen even a ghost of them yet?"

"Could it be that something has gone wrong over in Coastal City?"

Never mind, I'll digest this batch of items first.

...

Lin Li's guess was very accurate.

At this moment, Coastal City, this massive Hive City with a population exceeding two hundred million, was in a state of eerie mania and oppression.

A Hive City was an architectural wonder unique to the Imperium of Man.

It was like a mountain of steel piercing the sky.

The countless commoners at the lowest levels would never see the sun in their entire lives, only struggling to survive amidst toxic fumes and gang warfare.

The spires at the very top, however, were the playgrounds of the Governor and the elite.

In an extremely luxurious observatory at the spire, covered in precious animal pelts.

Planetary Governor Clark was lying lazily on a floating couch, enjoying a massage from several beautiful handmaidens.

He held a glass of high-grade red wine brewed from pure grapes.

"How is the situation with those greenskins to the north?" Clark asked nonchalantly.

An adjutant in a crisp uniform knelt on one knee and reported respectfully:

"Lord Governor, although there is some dispersion among the greenskin clans, the main force is still gathering. According to tactical simulations, they are expected to finish assembling in a month and launch a full-scale assault on our northern pass defense line."

Clark took a sip of red wine and gave a disdainful cold snort.

"After this bait operation, the Ecclesiarchy and the Adeptus Arbites have issued many protests against you."

The adjutant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Especially the Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy. He said there are still many villages and believers loyal to the Emperor in the wilderness, and we should not actively abandon the outer defense lines, using them as meat shields to delay the Ork advance."

"Tsk, a bunch of wilderness dregs who spend every day thinking of how to evade the Tithe. Dying at the hands of the greenskins is their greatest value."

Clark waved his hand dismissively, as if those dying weren't people but a few insects. "Don't worry about their protests. What about the rats down below?"

The adjutant knew the Governor was asking about the commoners in the lower levels of the Hive City.

"The same as before. Gang warfare happens every day, and the death rate in the lower levels is still rising. However, the labor pool remains massive."

"That's good."

Clark sat up straight and tossed his wine glass to a handmaiden.

"I don't care about anything else, but the sector Tithe promised to the Departmento Munitorum must be prepared on time. If we fail to pay the tax, the Inquisition's fleet will come looking for trouble."

"But, my lord..."

The adjutant looked troubled.

"Due to the Orks' frantic expansion, several large waste reclamation plants and ore veins in the north have been forced to stop operations. Our production capacity is severely limited; I'm afraid we won't be able to meet this year's tax quota."

Clark's gaze turned cold, and he kicked the adjutant in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Useless! If it's not enough, can't you find a way?"

Clark looked down at the adjutant from above.

"Then raise the taxes on those rats in the lower levels! Raise the taxes on those refugees who luckily survived in the outskirts! Increase the tax rate by fifty percent! I want you to squeeze profit even out of the dead! Do I really have to teach you such a simple math problem?!"

"But..."

The adjutant clutched his shoulder and said in terror,

"If the Political Commissars and the Adeptus Arbites find out we are using violence to force taxes and causing large-scale riots, they will definitely intervene!"

"Intervene? I am the Planetary Governor here! I am the master of this planet!"

Clark laughed arrogantly.

"Go do it! If those blockheads from the Adeptus Arbites have a problem, tell them to come to the spire and find me!"

The adjutant scrambled out of the room.

...

The next morning, northwest of the Shelter.

On the desolate Gobi Desert, a self-made two-person electric motorcycle was speeding wildly across the wasteland, trailing a long plume of dust.

These were Flash and Miracle Walker, who had taken an exploration mission early this morning.

"Hahaha! Traveling with this electric donkey is awesome! It's way faster than running on two legs!"

Flash gripped the handlebars and twisted the throttle to the max, the wind howling in his ears.

"Slow the hell down! Stop popping wheelies, okay?!"

Miracle Walker, sitting on the back seat, clung tightly to Flash's waist, being jolted so much he felt like throwing up stomach acid.

"The rocks on the ground are jumping up and hitting me right in the ass!"

"What are you afraid of! I'm helping everyone test the top speed of this new energy vehicle!"

Flash didn't slow down; instead, he became even more excited.

Following the map, the two soon arrived at the mountain pass where the Orks had moved south yesterday.

Parking the motorcycle in a hidden spot, the two lay flat on a rock and looked down.

In the wide, dry river valley, there were still some scattered Ork squads wandering south along the riverbed from the north, crossing the defense line in small groups.

"These greenskins really are using this place as a highway." Miracle Walker frowned.

The two estimated the terrain and length of the river valley, recorded it in their terminal, and then got back on the bike to continue exploring to the west.

"The coordinates for the system's map-clearing mission seem to be in that stone forest up ahead." Flash slowed down.

Just as the two approached the edge of the stone forest, a burst of intense gunfire and chaotic sounds of slaughter reached them.

The two exchanged a look, immediately hid the motorcycle, and crept forward in a crouch.

Passing through several massive rocks, a large temporary camp resembling that of a nomadic tribe appeared in the clearing ahead.

Hundreds of crude tents were arranged in a circle.

In the camp were about three to four hundred wasteland residents dressed in animal skins and rags.

They were holding crude guns and large machetes, defending themselves desperately.